Potential Land Reserves for Agriculture in Indonesia: Suitability and Legal Aspect Supporting Food Sufficiency

Anny Mulyani (), Budi Mulyanto, Baba Barus, Dyah Retno Panuju () and Husnain
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Anny Mulyani: Research Center for Geospatial, National Research and Innovation Agency, Jakarta Pusat 10340, Indonesia
Budi Mulyanto: Department of Soil Science and Land Resources, IPB University, Bogor 16680, Indonesia
Baba Barus: Department of Soil Science and Land Resources, IPB University, Bogor 16680, Indonesia
Dyah Retno Panuju: Department of Soil Science and Land Resources, IPB University, Bogor 16680, Indonesia
Husnain: Indonesian Center for Agricultural Land Resources Research and Development, Jakarta 12540, Indonesia

Land, 2023, vol. 12, issue 5, 1-19

Abstract: Information on land reserves is crucial and required to support agricultural development in relation to increased population pressure, food demand, and food security. This research aims to identify and evaluate idle abandoned land based on biophysical suitability, status of land concessions, and forest areas to determine potential land reserves for agricultural development to support food security in Indonesia. The results show that, at the national level, the area of suitable abandoned lands for agricultural extensification is 27.7 million ha, but most of these lands have concession permits and are located in forest areas, so 12.4 million ha are still available, with the largest area being in dry land. The identification of abandoned land by employing satellite imagery in 54 districts resulted in a smaller acreage compared to abandoned land being mapped formally at 1:250,000. After considering land ownership and forest status, both sources resulted in similar areas at a scale of 1:50,000 and 1:250,000, i.e., 6.1 million ha and 6.0 million ha, respectively. It seems that land ownership and forest status adjusted the total acreage of identified land reserves at different map scales. An area of around 7.4 million ha will be required to meet food demand in 2045 by assuming constant consumption per capita. We found about 1.7 million ha as potential land reserves, most of which are in conversion or production forests areas. Converting forests or utilizing drylands could be potential alternatives to deal with the lack of land for food production. Moreover, due to limited wetlands, the use of reserve land in that agroecological zone should be in accordance with its designation, comply with the priority principles, and be supported by government regulations and policies, so that food security can be maintained until 2045.

Keywords: abandoned land; spatial analysis; development area; land evaluation; prediction of land needs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q15 Q2 Q24 Q28 Q5 R14 R52 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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